1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a hinge, especially to a variable friction hinge being mounted between a cover and a base of an electronic device to provide different friction when the cover is opened or closed.
2. Description of the Prior Arts
Electronic devices such as notebook computers, cell phones and the like have a cover with a display and a base. To allow the cover to be pivoted relative to the base, a hinge is mounted between the cover and the base. The hinge provides friction when the cover is pivoted to the base to maintain the cover at any desired angle. When the cover is closed relative to the base, the hinge needs to offer more resistance to prevent the cover from gaining momentum and bumping into the base, thereby causing damage. When the cover is opened relative to the base, the hinge needs to offer less resistance to allow the cover to be opened quickly and easily and give access to the electronic device faster. However, the conventional hinge provides the same friction during opening and closing. Therefore a balance is struck between low resistance and easy to open but not preventing damage and high resistance, preventing damage but hard to open.
To overcome the shortcomings, the present invention provides a hinge with variable friction to mitigate or obviate the aforementioned problems.